Xantia front brakes

Bren · Post by **Bren** » 03 Jul 2009, 09:26

When I purchased my car in March 06, they came with the worst front brakes you have seen - pads almost to the backing, and the discs were so corroded they were beginning to collapse inward where they are ventilated.
Naturally I had them replaced at the earliest opportunity.

However, 3 years later and 25000 miles and the brakes are knackered again - pads down to the limit and huge lips on either disc. I have never had a car eat brakes like this before, and my driving style is rather gentle.

I have replaced the aforementioned parts, however does any body know the cause of the problem?

marsalek · Post by **marsalek** » 03 Jul 2009, 11:26

25000 miles are not too bad for a set of pads - it always depends on the driving style. What about the handbrake cables? Too tight?

Karel

Sid_the_Squid · Post by **Sid_the_Squid** » 03 Jul 2009, 11:41

I agree, I would be satisifed with 25,000 miles from a set of pads, I also think it depends on the quality of the materials used, example I went to kwikfit for a disc and pad change, the pads were knackered in 6000 miles, got the pads replaced by indepenant citroen garage they lasted almost 20,000 miles. Had a similar issue with a MX-6 I once owned, breaks were quite good until I put some cheap pads on, after that the car did not want to stop!
Xantia's have a rep for being hard on the front breaks, but I've not notice any more rapid pad wear than on any of the other cars I've had, although I genrally drive Xantia's or Jap sports coupe's

Post by **CitroJim** » 03 Jul 2009, 12:37

Modern asbestos-free pads that work well seem to me to wear the discs as much as the pads these days. The pads seem to be of a hard compound compared to those of yesteryear.

I too would be happy with 25K out of a set of pads and would expect to be able to use discs for two sets of pads.

My old 1.9TD saw off a set of discs in 20K but more from them warping (Brembos) more than outright wear; the wear indicators were still visible.

marsalek · Post by **marsalek** » 03 Jul 2009, 12:59

CitroJim wrote:Modern asbestos-free pads that work well seem to me to wear the discs as much as the pads these days. The pads seem to be of a hard compound compared to those of yesteryear.

Thats entirely so!

If all four pads are worn equally, only excessive braking can be the cause. Have heard about Xantias whose brake hoses were internally "swollen" and thus released the pressure after releasing the brake pedal very slowly. I myself changed the hoses when the car was 8 years old.

Karel

Bren · Post by **Bren** » 03 Jul 2009, 22:26

The pads are'nt really the issue - I cant believe the state of the discs. I know the xantia TD estate is a heavy beast but none of my previous cars discs have ended up in this state.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Jul 2009, 08:30

well there are some very very cheap copied parts out there, you have only got to look at fleabay to get an idea of what BARGAINS are out there (NOT), and charge top price and some for them,

s**t comes to mind,

and i certainly would not put it passed the likes of s**tfit to purchase that sort of crap (maximis proffits)

regards malcolm

Post by **Duracell** » 05 Jul 2009, 03:50

I usually get approx 20/25 thousand from a set of front pads but have not had the disc's wear at the rate talked about here - the original front disc's on my xantia Hdi were changed when they reached their wear limit at 145,000 miles - the replcement disc's (Eicher from ECP) are now 35,000 miles old and still ok